channel choice - citizins' channel behaviour and public service channel strategy 2009 by w....
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Channel Choice
Citizens Channel Behavior and Public Service Channel Strategy
Willem Pieterson
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The studies described in this thesis were financially supported by the Dutch Tax and
Customs Administration. Some of the findings result from the research project Kanalen in
Balans, led by Novay (former Telematica Instituut).
Thesis, University of Twente
ISBN 978-90-365-2807-8
2009 Willem Pieterson
Printed by: Gildeprint B.V., Enschede
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CHA NNEL CHOICECITIZENS CHANNEL BEHAVIOR AND PUBLIC SERVICE CHANNEL STRATEGY
PROEFSCHRIFT
ter verkrijging vande graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Twente,
op gezag van de rector magnificus,
prof. dr. H. Brinksma,
volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties
in het openbaar te verdedigen
op donderdag 26 maart 2009 om 16:45 uur
door
Willem Jan Pieterson
geboren op 9 april 1980
te Almelo
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Dit proefschrift is goedgekeurd door
de promotor: Prof. Dr. J.A.G.M. van Dijk
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Samenstelling promotiecommissie
Promotor: Prof. Dr. J.A.G.M. van Dijk
Leden: Prof. Dr. R. RiceProf. Dr. C. Steinfield
Prof. Dr. N. Contractor
Prof. Dr. M. Steehouder
Dr. T.M. van der Geest
Dont waste your time or time will waste you
M. Bellamy
(Muse-the Knights of Cydonia)
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Table of Cont ent s1 Introducing Channel Choice.............................................................................................................................31.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................................................................31.2 Public service delivery and channel choice................................................................................................................41.3 Theory and channel choice .....................................................................................................................................................81.4 Service Channels...........................................................................................................................................................................111.5 Services .................................................................................................................................................................................................131.6 Channel Behavior.........................................................................................................................................................................181.7 Research Questions....................................................................................................................................................................191.8 Contents of the Dissertation .................................................................................................................................................212 Public sector service provision....................................................................................................................252.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................252.2 Public Services; historical overview.................................................................................................................................262.3 The rise of ICT and the emergence of new channels .....................................................................................352.4 Overview of (Multi)Channel strategies.........................................................................................................................452.5 Conclusions.......................................................................................................................................................................................513 Channel Behavior ................................................................................................................................................543.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................543.2 Channel Behavior.........................................................................................................................................................................543.3 Previous Research on Channel Choice.......................................................................................................................563.4 Previous Research on Channel Usage .......................................................................................................................643.5 Previous Research on Channel Evaluation ..............................................................................................................703.6 Conclusions.......................................................................................................................................................................................724 Rational theories of media choice...........................................................................................................774.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................774.2 Contingency Theory.....................................................................................................................................................................794.3 Social Presence Theory.............................................................................................................................................................804.4 Media Richness Theory............................................................................................................................................................814.5 Critiques on Media Richness Theory.............................................................................................................................894.6 Conclusions.......................................................................................................................................................................................925 (inter)subjective theories of media choice..........................................................................................945.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................945.2 Symbolic Interactionism...........................................................................................................................................................955.3 Social Influence Model.............................................................................................................................................................975.4 The Dual Capacity Model.......................................................................................................................................................995.5 Channel Expansion Theory ................................................................................................................................................1025.6 Summarizing the media theories.................................................................................................................................1035.7 Integration of perspectives .................................................................................................................................................1065.8 Conclusions....................................................................................................................................................................................108
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6 Theories of Human Decision Making.................................................................................................1106.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................................................1106.2 Rationality.........................................................................................................................................................................................1106.3 Bounded Rationality.................................................................................................................................................................1146.4 Zipfs law...........................................................................................................................................................................................1156.5 The Adaptive Decision Maker Hypothesis.............................................................................................................1156.6 The logic of (bounded) rationality..................................................................................................................................1196.7 Decision making in Channel Choice..........................................................................................................................1246.8 Conclusions....................................................................................................................................................................................1287 An exploration of channel choice determinants........................................................................1317.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................................................1317.2 Methodology and Data Collection...............................................................................................................................1327.3 Results.................................................................................................................................................................................................1347.4 Conclusions....................................................................................................................................................................................1428 A Theory of Channel Choice......................................................................................................................1478.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................................................1478.2 Summarizing the previous findings............................................................................................................................1478.3 A Theory of Channel Choice .............................................................................................................................................1488.4 Two studies on the channel choice theory...........................................................................................................1568.5 Study 1; Fitting Personal Characteristics, Task and Situation to Channel Choice...................1578.6 Study 2, Channel Perceptions and Usage; Beyond Media Richness Factors...........................1658.7 Conclusions....................................................................................................................................................................................1749 An empirical exploration of the theory...............................................................................................1769.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................................................1769.2 Study part 1; The perceptual survey............................................................................................................................1779.3 Study part 2; The Vignette Study....................................................................................................................................2159.4 General conclusions................................................................................................................................................................23410 General conclusions.......................................................................................................................................23910.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................................................23910.2 Short summary of the previous chapters................................................................................................................23910.3 General Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................24610.4 Theoretical Implications........................................................................................................................................................24810.5 Practical Implications..............................................................................................................................................................25010.6 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................................................................................254
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INTRODUCING CHANNEL CHOICE
PA GE 3
Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason.
(Samuel Adams)
1 Introducing Channel Choice
1.1 Introduction
Nowadays, citizens have a wide array of channels at their disposal for their contacts with
governmental agencies. If I have a question about my taxes, I can look on a website,
phone the tax agency or visit a front desk in order to get the information I need. Suppose
that I decided to phone the tax agency: why did I do that? Was it because I thought that
this was the fastest or most convenient way to get an answer? Or was it because I thought
that the call center agent would give me the best answer? I might have even chosen the
phone because of the simple fact that I was holding a phone in my hand. In short, I might
have had many reasons to choose a certain channel, but which factors determine the
channel choice of a citizen in a certain situation? This basic question is the starting point of
this dissertation.
Knowledge about behavioral motives is becoming more and more important to government
agencies: citizens are becoming more and more diverse in their behavior, and their
expectations of service delivery are ever-increasing. Yet money can only be spent once, so
specific choices have to be made about the channels to deploy and how to design them.
Furthermore, new media are still emerging. Twenty years ago, we only had the
possibilities of visiting a front desk, telephoning, or writing a letter; the advent of the
Internet gave us e-mail, and the birth of the World Wide Web in 1993 gave us websites to
search for information. SMS and chat are new applications that are still awaiting their
large-scale breakthrough in public service delivery. Should government agencies deploy
these channels? If so, for what purposes? Knowledge about citizens behavior may assist in
the design of the ideal channel mix and may help in guiding citizens to the channels
preferred by the government agency.
However, there is currently very little knowledge available about citizens channel choices.
Some knowledge is available about channel choices in private sector settings. Also, media
and channel choices in general have received some attention. However, we lack a clear
picture of citizens motivations to choose and consequently use a channel. Furthermore,
we lack theories that describe or predict why and how people choose among different
service channels. The main goal of this study is twofold. The first goal (the theoretical
goal) is to improve the theoretical understanding of the behavioral process underlying
channel choices. The second goal (the practical goal) is to provide government agencies
with the knowledge to better design their service channels according to citizens behavior.
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In this chapter, we will elaborate on these goals and define our research questions. First
(1.2), we will discuss developments in public service delivery and channel choice that lead
to the practical goal. Next (1.3), we will elaborate on the theoretical issues that lead to
the theoretical goal of this research. After presenting the two main aims of thisdissertation, we will define and discuss some of the main terms of the study: service
channels (1.4), services, (1.5) and channel behavior (1.6). The chapter will conclude
with a description of the research questions that form the guideline for the contents of this
dissertation (1.7) and an overview of the contents of the dissertation (1.8).
1.2 Publ ic serv ice d elivery and channel choice
During the 1990s, use of the Internet rapidly diffused around the world, first in North
America, followed by Europe and then the rest of the world. Given the technical
characteristics of the Internet and inspired by the commercial success of the private sector
during the dot-com hype, it is no surprise that the public sector embraced the Internet as
the means to improve public service delivery (Bekkers, 2000). A quotation from Silcock
(2001, p. 88) is a perfect illustration of the way in which ICT was believed to transform the
way we live:
The explosive entry of technology into every aspect of life has changed how people live,
how they work, how companies do business and how governments serve their people.
For the first time since the creation of the modern welfare state, there is now a real
opportunity to reinvent government
At that time, government agencies were in the middle of this process of reinvention. Due
to the tendency to apply private sector management techniques to public management,
government agencies became more market-oriented. It was believed by many that this
would lead to greater cost-efficiency for governments as well as a more citizen-centered
orientation of public service delivery. During the rise of the Internet, it seemed that
agencies' ambition to become more citizen-centered by deploying of various applications of
ICTlike the Internet, network technologies, computer matching and mobile telephony
was realized at last (van Duivenboden, 1999). Or as Borins (2002, p. 4) wrote: Theinternet may well be an ideal medium for many public sector transactions. Perhaps one of
the best examples of the optimism about the Internet as the ideal channel for public
services is found in the Dutch governmental paper De Digitale Delta, which says
(translated from Dutch):
And the technological opportunities the medium (internet) is offering right now are just a
tiny reflection of what can be reality in the beginning of the next millennium.
(Ministerie van Economische Zaken et al., 1999, p. 4)
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PA GE 5
Now, about 15 years after the invention of the World Wide Web, more than 80 percent of
all Dutch citizens file their taxes electronically (in 2008), and the number of hits on the
website of the Tax and Customs Administration has risen dramatically in the past few
years. However, the number of telephone contacts has also increased in the past few
years. In New Zealand in 2005, the website of the Inland Revenue Service received anaverage of 150,000 page views per day, an increase of 113% in comparison with the
previous year, yet in New Zealand, the telephone remains the most important means of
contact for citizens. Accenture (2005) concluded in its 2005 e-government benchmark that
the telephone is the dominant service channel in the countries that it studied. Results from
the study show that 63% of the respondents had used the telephone in 2004 for service
interactions with governments, in contrast to 31% who used the Internet. In Switzerland,
people still prefer to have face-to-face contact with the authorities (Berner Fachhochschule
& Unisys, 2005). Although Internet usage in Switzerland is increasing, this is only leading
to a decrease in the use of print media, not in the use of face-to-face and telephonic
services.
The conclusion seems obvious: the Internet is not replacing other channels, but is rather
another channel in the mix of service channels, just as the telephone, physical and postal
channels are (Van Deursen & Pieterson, 2006). Other organizations have drawn the same
conclusion. After years of reducing the number of front desks, a number of Dutch banks
are opening new branches: the Rabobank has the goal of upgrading the number of
(physical) contact points to 3200 (from 2942), and ABN AMRO, one of the leading Dutch
banks, announced in 2006 that it would expand the visiting hours of its offices to serve its
customers better.
In reaction to the notion that the Internet is not replacing all other channels, many
government agencies are trying to answer the question of how the Internet should be
positioned among the other service channels. According to Accenture (2005, pp. 50-51),
this is one of the most important questions to ask at this moment for all governments
working on their e-Government plans:
Governments will achieve leadership in multichannel service when citizens interactions
with government agencies are fast, efficient and hassle free, and when citizens getconsistent service through the combination of channels that makes the most sense to
them. Governments need to develop the service delivery channels and operational models
that are appropriate to each service and that meet the needs of citizens while remaining
efficient and cost-effective.
Not only do the aforementioned findings show that the Internet on a channel level is not
replacing other channels, it has also become clear that citizens use different channels for
different purposes (Ebbers et al., 2008; Pieterson & van Dijk, 2006). Thus, a citizen may
very well search for information online and then use the telephone to verify this
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information. These findings call for a deeper understanding of what makes citizens choose
a service channel in a given situation. Proper design and positioning of service channels
based on citizens' behavior will most likely result in greater satisfaction and might lower
the cost of service delivery. Furthermore, knowledge of citizens behavior may be used to
influence citizens to use the most efficient and cost-effective channels. However, there arefew studies available on channel choice. The following subsection provides a short
overview.
1.2.1 Research on channel choice
Channel choice has been a field of study in various disciplines. In public administration,
few studies have focused on channel choice. Most of these studies took place before the
arrival of the electronic service channels (e.g. Hirlinger, 1992; Jones et al., 1977; Thomas,
1982; Zuckerman & West, 1985). More recently, a number of studies have examined
citizens channel choices. Reddick (2005b) examined citizen interactions with e-government, but he focused only on the use of the Internet and paid no attention to the
traditional channels and to motives for choosing a certain channel. Thomas and Streib
(2003) also studied citizen-initiated contacts in the era of e-government. Although their
quantitative study focuses primarily on the Internet, they test some hypotheses that are
important for channel choice. The relevant findings of their study are that citizens use
websites for specific purposes (searching for information), meaning that the type of task at
hand may be a determinant of channel choice, as well as the personal characteristics of
the website visitor. Website users tend to have higher incomes and to be more educated,
younger, and Caucasian, in comparison to non-website users.
Reddick's (2005a) study is the most relevant one in the field of government. He compared
differences between citizen-initiated contacts with government using phones and those
that used websites. Like Thomas and Streib (2003), Reddick found the task at hand to be
an important factor in channel choice: when people have a problem, they actually contact
government by phone. For information and transactions, citizens choose the web.
Similarly, Reddick also found support for the influence of personal characteristics.
Furthermore, Reddick found evidence for the influence oftrust (the more trust, the more
people prefer the telephone) and having a satisfactory experience (more important for
websites than the telephone) on channel choice. Schellong and Mans surveyed Germancitizens and found time, the age of the respondent and the emotional state of the
respondents to be factors influencing channel preference.
Other disciplines have also studied how and why people choose service channels or
communication media. The first of these disciplines is human-computer interaction
(especially on the topic of information search behavior). In models of information-seeking
behavior (Ellis, 1989; Marchionini, 1995), the selection of an information channel is an
important phase, and some studies have focused specifically on the choice process (see for
example Choo et al., 2000; Savolainen & Kari, 2004). Most studies in this field have
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INTRODUCING CHANNEL CHOICE
PA GE 7
focused on the relationship between task characteristics and channel (or information
source) characteristics.
The second field is that of adoption of technology. Models such as the Technology
Acceptance Model (TAM), first introduced by Davis (1986), are specifically designed tomodel user acceptance of information systems. But TAM has also been used to predict
channel choices (see for example Blacket al., 2002; Deveraj et al., 2002; Yang et al.,
2007), yielding the general result that the two main factors from TAM, perceived
usefulness and perceived ease of use, influence channel choices. However, no evidence is
available that relates the TAM factors to citizens channel choices.
The third field is marketing; in no other field than marketing has channel choice received
so much attention, although this is relative. The literature on consumer behavior has
addressed the issue of channel choice, but often as a more peripheral topic. Berman
(1996) has suggested that different types of goods require different channels of sale. He
suggests that perishable goods require short channels (short in terms of time and effort)
and non-perishable goods require long channels. Tauber (1972) and Barczaket al. (1997),
for example, argue for considering the motivation for behavior, and more of those factors
exist. Black et al. (2002) review a large body of literature covering factors that might
influence channel choice, mainly in the field of financial services. Among the factors they
discuss are: perceived risk, propensity, convenience, transaction costs, ease of use,
preference for dealing with a real person, concerns about safety and risk, complexity, trust
and flexibility. Other factors that have been suggested are interactivity, (Alba & Lynch,
1997), the fit between service and channel (Morrison & Roberts, 1998), experiences(Frambach et al., 2007) and costs (Broekhuizen, 2006; Keen et al., 2004; Verhoefet al.,
2007). However, in marketing, we lack theories and models that combine different factors
and different channels. Furthermore, it is uncertain to what extent lessons learned in
marketing can be applied to public sector transactions.
Out of all the fields, communication is the most noteworthy, given the state of the art in
theory building. It has been the field in which specific channel choice theories have been
developed (such as Media Richness Theory (MRT) (Daft & Lengel, 1984, 1986)). These
theories have often been used in other fields of research (see for example Brunelle &Lapierre, 2007; Jrvelinen, 2003; Rodriguez Cano et al., 2005) and can therefore be seen
as the theoretical foundation of most channel choice research. Hence, we use these
communication theories as the theoretical basis for this study. We shall discuss these
theories in section 1.3 of this chapter.
1.2.2 Practical research goal
Governmental agencies lack knowledge about their citizens behavior regarding channel
choices. This knowledge may be useful for two reasons. First, a deeper understanding of
channel choice determinants may help in designing better service channel strategies in
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which citizens behavior is taken into account. This may make the service delivery process
more efficient and effective (both in terms of citizens satisfaction as well as cost-
effectiveness (Ebbers et al., 2008)). Second, government agencies expect increased usage
of service delivery through digital channels to improve efficiency, overall costs and
customer service. Hence, government agencies are trying to entice their citizens into usingelectronic service channels. However, knowledge about citizens' behavior is a prerequisite
for enticing them successfully. Hence, the practical goal of this study is to increase
understanding of citizens behavior regarding channel choice.
1.3 Theory and channel choice
Not only are practitioners such as governmental agencies searching for deeper
understanding of channel choices, but theorists struggle with the topic as well. There is no
theory or model that directly describes public service channel choice processes. Only a few
studies exist that examine channel choice in the public sector context, and within this
context, no theory has yet been built. This might have to do with the relatively low level of
knowledge about channel choice. Scholars in the field have already acknowledged that the
available level of knowledge is low. Both Reddick (2005a) and Venkatesh (2006) argue
that more (qualitative) research is needed to get a full understanding of channel choice.
They specifically call for more qualitative research to gain insight into the behavioral
processes, before quantitative testing and modeling are done.
In regard to theory building, most work has been done in the field of communication or
media studies. Here, a number of theories have been developed that describe or prescribemedia or channel choices. The most well-known theory in this field is the Media Richness
Theory (MRT) (Daft & Lengel, 1986), which is to some extent derived from Social
Presence Theory (Short, Williams, & Christie, 1976). MRT states that media differ in
richness based on their capacities to provide immediate feedback, language variety,
personalization, and multiple channels or cues. According to the theory, face-to-face
contact is the richest, followed by the telephone, e-mail, and websites. The theory states
further that different tasks require different media in order for communication to be most
effective. Equivocal tasks require rich media, whereas uncertain tasks require lean or poor
media. Originally, this theory was meant to describe media usage within organizations;however, the theory has received a lot of attention as a choice theory (see for example
Trevino, Webster and Stein, 2000; El-Shinnawy and Markus, 1997). Media Richness Theory
(MRT) has found mixed empirical support. Dennis and Kinney (1998, see also Rice, 1992)
argue that this might be because MRT is not a choice theory, but a use theory. The main
difference between choice and use theories is that use theories generally make statements
about the performance (or outcome) of the communication process. Choice theories are
occupied with prescribing which channels to use in a given situation, so use theories
become relevant after the choice has happened and therefore complement choice theories.
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INTRODUCING CHANNEL CHOICE
PA GE 9
Besides being a use rather than a choice theory, there are two other major points of
critique of MRT. The first is that research findings fail to support MRT with respect to new
media, such as email (see for example Markus, 1994). According to Daft and Lengels
qualification, e-mail is a poor medium, not being able to do equivocal tasks, a kind of task
that requires rich media. Nevertheless, e-mail is successfully being used for tasksrequiring rich media (Dennis & Kinney, 1998; El-Shinnawy & Markus, 1998). The second
point of critique is that MRT is often found to be too simplistic, and moreover too
rationalistic (Webster & Trevino, 1995). MRT assumes that people can choose the
medium that fits the task that they have to perform. With simple, generic tasks (such as
passing data), people choose a poor medium; with ambiguous tasks (like problem solving),
people choose a rich medium. Actually, it has been argued that people do not think and
act so rationally when they think about what medium to choose to fit the task (Fulket al.,
1990). Apparently other factors besides just the characteristics of the medium and the
nature of the task determine the choice of a medium.
Fulket al. (1990) present the Social Influence Model, a model based on the assumption
that the choice and use of media are a subjective process, based not on the objective
characteristics of task and media, but on perceptions of task and media characteristics.
These perceptions are largely socially determined, so a person's social environment mainly
influences his or her media use. Choice processes are not always (individually) rational but
occur in a historical and social context. Evidence for the Social Influence Model is delivered
by Markus, who found that senior managers pressure lower level managers to reply quickly
to emails, thus suggesting that use of media is socially constructed rather than based on
the features of the media and the task. Schmitz and Fulk (1991), Fulk (1993) and Carlsonand Zmud (1999) also found positive relationships between social influence and perceived
media richness. Non-supportive evidence also exists (Rice, 1993; Rice & Aydin, 1991).
Carlson and Zmud (1994) propose the Channel Expansion Theory as a means to improve
MRT. They state that when experience with a medium increases, its richness increases as
well. For example, when I am a novice in using a communication mechanism, I may have
little knowledge about its functionality and capabilities. As my experience increases, I may
discover more functionality, and hence, the richness of the medium increases. This is what
they call the channel expansion effect. The Channel Expansion Theory (CET) is a logicaltheory that follows from both MRT and the Social Influence Model. The creators of both
theories always argued that their approaches are complementary rather than opposing
views. CET incorporates both theoretical approaches in one model so that one of the main
criticisms of MRT, that richness is a social and mental variable rather than a fixed property,
is addressed. However, CET is not specifically designed as a choice theory: it focuses on
perceptions concerning a given channel, not the channel selection process (Trevino et al.,
2000).
Channel Expansion Theory has received little empirical attention so far. Carlson and Zmud
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(1999) tested the Channel Expansion Hypothesis and found general support. Their
research, consisting of two studies among personnel and students at a university, yielded
support considering experience with the organizational context and experience with the
communication co-participants. Support for the two other types of experience (channel
and message topic) was only marginal. Their study only involved e-mail as acommunication channel. Despite the fact that the Channel Expansion Theory has not been
tested for other media, it is a promising direction for future research offering a
supplementary view of the other known perspectives.
Although these (inter)subjective models, such as the Social Influence Model and channel
expansion theory, take a different perspective than MRT, the original theorists have always
argued that factors from each of the different perspectives need to be included in order to
understand channel choice or usage fully. For example, Daft and Lengel (1986, p. 559)
argued that managers work under conditions of bounded rationality and time constraints.
There has been some research that tries to combine elements from both theoretical
perspectives. Among this research are studies that extend Media Richness Theory with, for
example, symbolic and situational influences (Trevino et al., 1990) and social influences
(Fulk, 1993; Rice, 1993). However, although the original theorists have been rather
integrative in their approach, researchers using the theories have been polarized. Both
theory and practice show us that both rationalistic and (inter)subjective perspectives on
media use stand far away from each other, leaving us very few empirical data as well as
models about their combination. Webster, Trevino and Klein (2000) argue that future work
should incorporate both perspectives, as well as the contingencies under which rational or(inter)subjective factors may be more important. Others have tried to create their own
integrated models. Bozeman (1993), for example, proposed the Limited Rationality Media
Selection Model (LRMSM), which combines objective and subjective characteristics of
media. He also pointed to the idea that media choices may be rational on the one hand
and irrational (or rationally ignorant as Bozeman calls it) on the other hand. Although
Bozeman's idea is interesting, no empirical evidence for his model exists so far.
1.3.1 Theoretical research goal
We think it is fair to conclude that there is no suitable theory at hand that helps us toexplain service channel choice processes. Attempts to integrate objective and
(inter)subjective theories of channel choice have been unsuccessful so far. Moreover,
existing theories do not clearly focus on either channel choice or channel use. Therefore,
the (theoretical) problem underlying this research proposal is that there is no appropriate
model or theory to explain individual public service channel choice processes. The main
(theoretical) goal of this study is to increase understanding of channel choice determinants
by further developing a channel choice model that integrates objective and social theories.
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INTRODUCING CHANNEL CHOICE
PA GE 11
1.4 Service Channels
Normally, citizens can interact with governments in multiple ways. There are three general
types of service encounters: remote encounters, phone encounters, and face-to-face
encounters (Dialogic, 2004). Depending on the type of service, a citizen can use thetelephone, go to a counter to get forms, or download these forms from a website. Though
various means of interaction exist, generally four different types of service channels are
distinguished from each other: Personal (e.g., counter)
Electronic (e.g., the World Wide Web or e-mail)
Printed or written (e.g., letters and faxes)
Telephone
These service channels differ in their characteristics, for example, the central means of
interaction. Personal service delivery mainly relies on face-to-face communication, the
telephone on telephonic interaction and written services on print media. However,
electronic services use multiple media: websites and e-mail mainly use text, similarly to
those in print media, while web-conferencing, for example, uses both audio and video and
is therefore similar to videoconferencing.
Although these four channels are the most commonly used in service interaction, the
printed or written channel seems to be used less and less. Research from the Netherlands
(Dialogic, 2001, 2004) shows a decline in the use of the written channel from 31% (2001)
to 13% (2004). Declining patterns are also observable in other countries, such asSwitzerland (Berner Fachhochschule & Unisys, 2005). Although use of this channel is
decreasing, it is not expected to disappear. According to Noble, Griffith and Weinberger
(2005), catalogs do have some value in a retail context, especially for information
attainment and price comparison. However, the rapid decline in the use of the written
channel by citizens has led to some to exclude the written channel from their multi-channel
models (Ebbers et al., 2008).
1.4.1 The nature of contacts
Although ICT has led to new service channels (e-mail, the World Wide Web), it has alsochanged the nature of contacts via implementations in the back office. Kellog and Chase
(1995) describe five conceptual archetypes of customer contact in relation to technology,
as displayed in Figure 1.1. The first type of contact is a technology-free contact, as we
often see in face-to-face contact. The second type is technology-assisted customer
contact, whereby the service representative or civil servant uses technology. An example is
a front desk where the civil servant has access to a desktop computer to give the citizen
information. The third interaction type is the technology-facilitated customer contact: for
example, a citizen and a civil servant who both browse the Internet, whereby the civil
servant helps the citizen find the information that the he or she needs by the telephone.
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An example of the fourth type, technology-mediated contact, is e-mail. The World Wide
Web is a striking example from the last type of interaction: technology-generated contact.
In this type, no human contact whatsoever is involved in the service delivery process.
Figure 1.1: Archetypes of customer contact
What the conceptual archetypes of Kellog and Chase mainly make clear is that ICTs have
affected the entire environment of public service delivery, both front and back offices. So,
although citizens still commonly use the telephone, the design of the telephone channel
has changed tremendously, IVR menus are now common in most organizations and call
center agents have various technological aids at their disposal to help citizens. In the samevein, service delivery via the front desk has also changed through ICTs: for example, civil
servants have computers, databases and other IT driven tools at their disposal to aid
clients.
1.4.2 Channel vs. Medium
The terms channel and medium are often used interchangeably. For example, Carlson
and Zmuds Channel Expansion Theory uses the term channel (Carlson & Zmud, 1994),
whereas Media Richness Theory (Daft & Lengel, 1986) relies on the term medium, but
both theories assign the same meaning to the concept. The exact meaning of the twoterms is unclear. Some people, like Shannon and Weaver (1949), see the medium as the
carrier of information; others see the channel as the means of carrying a signal and see
the medium as being broader, to be an intermediate agency (O'Sullivan et al., 1994),
whereas others see medium and channel as equivalent (Trevino et al., 2000).
Shannon and Weaver (1949) were among the first to use the word channel in a
communication context, along with Laswell (1948). They invented a technology model to
describe information flow from a source via an encoder, channel and decoder to a receiver.
ServiceCustomer
ServiceRep
Technology
A. Technology- FreeCustomer Contact
ServiceCustomer
ServiceRep
Technology
B. Technology-AssistedCustomer Contact
ServiceCustomer
ServiceRep
Technology
C. Technology-FacilitatedCustomer Contact
ServiceCustomer
ServiceRep
Technology
D. Technology-MediatedCustomer Contact
ServiceCustomer
ServiceRep
Technology
E. Technology-G eneratedCustomer Contact
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This model has become one of the standard models to describe information flows in linear
communication processes. The communication model is shown below.
Figure 1.2: Shannon and Weaver's model of communication
Analogously to the model of Shannon and Weaver, Berlo (1960) developed the S-M-C-R
model, which describes the information flow (message) from a sender via a channel to a
receiver. He viewed the channel as the pipeline through which the information is pushed.
This is a very narrow interpretation of the term channel. Broader interpretations also
exist. Heath and Bryant (2000, p. 79) argue that channels are typically defined as any
means by which a message is sent by a source or obtained by a receiver. In this sense,
channels are often associated with technologies such as print, radio, television, film, faxes,
pagers, or the Internet (Heath & Bryant, 2000). This definition encourages viewing the
communication process as one by which people choose channels depending on the nature
of the message that they want to send. A further broadening of the concept of channel is
that of the channel as related to the key elements of human reception. For example,
people send and receive messages through their senses (such as receiving a message
through hearing). Berlo (1960) argued that if we see channels this way, then every way in
which people experience reality becomes a communication channel. Other classifications of
media are whether the media are so-called push media, where the senders communicate
content actively towards the receivers, or pull media, where the receivers have to find the
information themselves (Kollock & Smith, 1999); whether the medium is fast or slow (interms of time between an event has occurred and the communication of this event)
(Windahl et al., 1999) and finally, the old-fashioned but famous distinction between hot
(with great influence) and cold (with less influence) media (McLuhan, 1964). McLuhan has
even taken the meaning of channel even more broadly by claiming that the message can
be equal to the channel itself: The Medium is the Message. In essence, this claim means
that the channel that is used ads meaning to the contact itself. Breaking up a relationship
face-to-face is quite different than breaking up the relationship via e-mail.
In this dissertation, we take a rather broad perspective on the word channel by stickingto the typical interpretation that the channel is the means by which a message is sent by a
source or obtained by a receiver. In this perspective, the medium is treated as an equal of
the word channel. Furthermore, since the word channel is the more common one
within the service delivery context, it is the preferred term in this dissertation.
1.5 Services
The term service is a term that can be found in many instances, thereby having different
meanings. For example, we know that the service sector, has service firms selling
Source Encoder Decoder ReceiverMessage Channel Message
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services. On the other hand, being at a firm that is not part of the service sector (such as
a factory); I may get service when I buy products. Although most firms today are labeled
as service-firms (Kotler, 2000), the remainder are not service firms but focus on, for
example, production. Yet almost all of these firms try to increase their value with
customers by offering services, thus being service providers. The same holds forgovernments: public services is a term regularly used for services governments delivers.
So what is a service?
The term service has many definitions, some of which are as follows:
- Any act or performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially
intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Its production may or
may not be tied to a physical product (Kotler, 2000).
A change in condition or state of an economic entity (or thing) caused by another
(Hill, 1977).
Deed, act, or performance (Berry, 1980).
Characterized by its nature (type of action and recipient), relationship with customer
(type of delivery and relationship), decisions (customization and judgment),
economics (demand and capacity), mode of delivery (customer location and nature of
physical or virtual space) (Lovelock, 1983).
The business transactions that take place between a donor (service provider) and
receiver (customer) in order to produce an outcome that satisfies the customer
(Ramaswamy, 1996).
Deeds, processes, performances (Zeithaml & Bitner, 1996).
An activity or series of activities of more or less intangible nature that normally, butnot necessarily, take place in interactions between the customer and service
employees or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to
customer problems (Grnroos, 2000).
A time-perishable, intangible experience performed for a customer acting in the role of
co-producer (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons, 2001).
Yong (2000) reviewed numerous definitions of service and pointed out that three
features of service are noteworthy in order to better understand the concept. First, service
is a performance. It happens through the interaction between consumers and serviceproviders. Second, other factors such as physical resources or environments play an
important role in the process of service production and consumption. Third, and finally,
consumers need service to provide certain functions such as problem-solving. The three
features together lead to the conclusion that "a service, combined with goods products, is
experienced and evaluated by customers who have particular goals and motivations for
consumers for consuming the service" (Yong, p.43).
Although definitions vary, most of them do share some common characteristics, mainly
aimed at separating services from goods. The reason why a service needs to be seen as
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different from a good lies in the existence of a number of characteristics of services that
are consistently cited in the literature (Parasuraman et al., 1985b; Parasuraman et al.,
1988): intangibility, inseparability of production and consumption, heterogeneity (also
labeled variability (Kotler, 2000)), and perishability.
Other classifications are based on typologies. Aichholzer (2001), for example, distinguishes
between three types of electronic services (the same distinction also applies to non-
electronic services): information, communication and transaction services. The goal of
information services is simply to supply information. This goes for not only information on
a website but also for forms that can be downloaded. Communication services are services
that require interaction between two parties: in this case, citizens and civil servants.
Examples are a citizen who asks a question by telephone or who tries to launch a
conversation by e-mail. Finally, transaction services are about transactions between
governments and citizens: for example, a citizen getting a drivers license or a passport. To
the three, Van Dijk and Van Deursen (2006) also add registration services, which they
describe as a type of service in which a government institution asks an individual for
certain information. The main aspect is that citizens provide information for the benefit of
the government. These services are slightly more complex than information services
because they require a citizen to interpret the question from the government. With
information services, citizens just get information (allocution) or answers to questions that
they formulated themselves (consultation). With registration services, they have to
interpret the question correctly and provide the correct answer.
Another classification is that of Bitner, Brown and Meuter (2000), who describe threeforms of services that exist in marketing contexts. The first type is customer service, such
as responding to customer inquiries or taking orders. The second type is free value added
services, which can accompany, support and enhance the utility of a good. The third type
is the service as the product that is being offered for sale. Finally, Scheepers and Kommers
(1994) distinguish between services as information provision and services as products
and concrete goods. Others have tried not to classify services, but to find dimensions to
measure service quality. The most well-known of these is SERVQUAL (Parasuraman et al.,
1988) and the related Gap-Analysis model (Parasuraman et al., 1985a); another well-
known model of service quality is the distinction between technical and functional qualityof Grnroos (1984). Peterson (1986), finally, argues that two types of citizen contact with
governmental agencies exist: inputs and outtakes. Input behavior represents an
individuals effort to get some government agency to respond to a particular problem. In
this type of behavior, the citizen takes the initiative and is an active participant. The
second type consists of citizens of clients of programs or recipients of services. In this
type, the citizen is passive and dependent on the service provider. Although the two types
are theoretically distinct, in practice, they may overlap.
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InteractivitySingle-sided Two-sided
Organization Allocution RegistrationInitiator
User Consultation Conversation
Table 1.1: Modes of information flow (Ebbers et al., 2008).
InAllocution, an organization sends information to the citizens. An example of this form of
interaction is a TV commercial. This form of communication is usually associated with push
media. The second form is Registration, in which a citizen sends information to the
organization. An example of this mode is returning a filled-out tax form: this form contains
user information that is required and registered by the organization; because a user sends
information on request, this mode is two-sided. We call these modes government
initiated. The third mode is Consultation: in this mode, a user connects to an information
source of the organization to find the required data. Although the organization supplies the
information, the users have to select and transfer the necessary information themselves,so no actual interaction takes place. The final mode is Conversation: in this mode, a user
requests information, and the organization provides the requested information, tailored to
the users needs. An example of conversation is when citizens phone their municipalities
with questions and get responses to their questions.
The four modes described above have an informational nature, but not all interactions that
citizens have with governmental organizations are information exchanges: parties
exchange money as well. For example, when my taxes are filed, I may have to pay or
receive money. Another example is a citizen requesting a new passport. The passport itself
has an informational nature: it is nothing more than personal information tagged to an
information carrier, but in order to receive the passport, the citizen has to pay a fee. These
types of interactions, exchanges where financial matters play a part, we call transactions.
So, in sum, five channel modes exist in which interactions take place: four of them have an
informational nature, and one has a financial nature. The five channel modes are:
Conversation, Consultation, Allocution, Registration and Transaction. Figure 1.3 shows the
five channel modes combined with the three most important channel types.
phone
website
front deskchanneltypes
channel modes
registration
transaction
allocation
consultation
conversation
Figure 1.3: Channel types and Channel modes combined (Ebbers et al., 2008)
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were formulated to explain and describe media choices in retrospect. However, over the
years, these theories received the label of choice theories (Pieterson, 2008b). Hence, we
use the term choice theories to refer to the media theories discussed in the theoretical
chapters of this dissertation.
1.7 Research Quest ions
The main aim of this dissertation is to provide insights into channel choice processes. This
aim can be subdivided into two research goals. The first goal of the study is to increase
theoretical insight into channel choice in order to further develop the integrative theory of
media choice (Webster, Trevino & Stein, 2000). The second main goal of this work is to
provide government agencies with knowledge about citizens behavior that may help them
provide services. A deeper understanding of the forces shaping citizens behavior may help
in designing channel management strategies as well as influencing citizens behavior.
However, in this study, we do not attempt to draw a full picture of the channel choice
determinants for citizens. The lack of insight in general about citizens behavior excludes
such ambitions at present. This study answers calls from Reddick (2005b) as well as
Venkatesh (2006) for a better understanding of channel choice by exploring the
determinants of channel choice processes. From the two goals of this study, we derive the
following research questions1:
Research Question 1:
What is the current state of the art in research regarding citizens channel behavior?
(Chapter 3)
Research Question 2:
What are the most important insights on channel choice that we can draw from existing
theories? (Chapter 4, 5 and 6)
Research Question 3:
Which factors determine the channel choice of Dutch citizens in current online government
service provision? (Chapter 7)
Research Question 4:
How can the theoretical and empirical (qualitative) insights be modeled in a preliminary
framework on channel choice? (Chapter 8)
Research Question 5:
Which channel choice determinants from the preliminary model are most important in
channel choice decisions, and how do these factors relate to each other? (Chapter 9)
1 Between parentheses the chapter in which the Research Question will be answered.
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The main purpose of these research questions is to structure and guide the exploratory
process on our way to a channel choice theory reported in this dissertation. For each of
the empirical studies (in Chapters 7, 8 and 9), we formulate specific (empirical) research
questions and hypotheses.
1.7.1 Scope of the study
The scope of this study is limited to citizens channel choices. This has a number of
consequences. First, the study does not address the issue of channel choice by
organizations. Organizations decide what channels to offer, so organizations also have
channel choices to make. In this study, we pay no attention to the behavioral motives
behind those choices. However, the implications of citizens behavior for organizational
channel strategies are discussed throughout the dissertation.
Second, this dissertation is limited to citizens channel choices. This has some implications:
there is no ambition to generalize the findings to either the private sector or the
organizational communication setting. Although citizens channel choices may bear some
similarity to a consumer choosing a channel from a business, there are some differences
between the public and private sectors that hinder full comparison between the two (see
Chapter 2). Furthermore, although most of the (communication) theories discussed in this
dissertation (see Chapters 4 and 5) stem from the organizational communication context
(in which intra-organizational, such as manager-employee communication, is being
studied), this study does not aim to improve organizational theory or to prescribe
organization members communication behavior. It is, however, possible that some of the
insights of this study apply to both commercial and organizational communication settings.
This remains for future work.
Third, and finally, this study is limited to service channels for information of
communication purposes that are initiated by citizens (consultation and conversation).
Information need is the key concept here, so citizen-government interactions that deal
with transactions, financial matters or even the exchange of physical products do not get
attention in this study because non-informational interactions have different (interaction)
requirements. Including them would make the study too complex. As mentioned above,business-government interactions and government-interactions are also excluded from the
study.
It should be noted that in this study, we do not try to build the definitive model on channel
choice. The study is aimed at theory-building. The current level of knowledge about
(citizens') channel choice determinants and their interrelations is so low that it would go
beyond ambition to build and test the definitive channel choice model. The theory laid out
in the final chapters of this dissertation needs to serve as the foundation of a model that
needs further testing and replication in order to become generalizable.
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1.8 Cont ent s of t he Dissert at ion
This dissertation is divided into four parts. Part 1 explores the context of this study: public
sector service provision. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the most important developmentsand issues in governmental service provision, such as public management principles, the
rise of ICT and differences between the public and private sector. In Chapter 3, we discuss
the conceptual process of channel behavior in more detail. Furthermore, we will discuss in
more detail the state of the art in channel choice research. The first part of the dissertation
therefore serves as a description of the background of the research questions and the
practical problem.
Part 2 deals with theoretical issues. In Chapter 4, we will discuss the rational or objective
stream of theories, such as Media Richness Theory. Chapter 5 will contain a discussion of
the social or (inter)subjective theories, such as the Social Influence Model and Channel
Expansion Theory. Whereas Chapters 4 and 5 focus on (media) choice theories rooted in
communication science, Chapter 6 focuses on choice and decision making in general. In
this chapter, we will discuss general decision-making theories. Based on the various lines
of thought in choice literature on channel choice, we will discuss the complementarity of
the objective and (inter)subjective media choice theories.
Part 3 is the empirical part of the dissertation. Chapter 7 will present a study that explores
the main determinants of channel choices by citizens in the Netherlands. Chapter 8 will
present a new theory on channel choice that integrates objective and (inter)subjectivefactors. Based on previous research and theory and the exploratory study, we will discuss
the main elements of a channel choice framework. Furthermore, we present the results of
two quantitative studies that aim to test some of the basic relationships in our framework.
Chapter 9 describes the quantitative study that we performed in order to test the
hypotheses derived from the framework. This study has two parts: the first is a study
about citizens perceptions towards channel choice determinants. We used this study to
test hypotheses and to construct and validate a Structural Equation Model using MPlus.
The second study is a vignette study. The main benefit of vignette studies is that, in their
quasi-experimental setting, they can capture more natural real-life decision making thanin survey studies. In the scenarios designed, we manipulated a number of channel choice
variables in order to test their relative influence and their interrelations.
The final part, Part 4, consists of the concluding chapter of this dissertation. Chapter 10
discusses the results and implications of the study. Herein, we will first summarize the
previous chapters. Furthermore, we will discuss the theoretical value of the dissertation.
Next, we will elaborate on the practical implications of the study in this chapter, including
the implications for the design and management of service channels in the public sector,
as well as the possibilities to influence citizens behavior. Finally, we will make some
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suggestions for future research in this field, both in order to further test the propositions
laid out in our own theory and to gain more insight on how to use this study for channel
management in influencing strategies.
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PA RT 1:PUBLIC SECTOR SERV ICE DELIV ERY
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I am not an adventurer by choice but by fate.
(Vincent van Gogh)
2 Public sect or serv ice provision2
2.1 Introduction
Governmental agencies are dynamic and so are policies and visions towards service
channels. To gain insight in citizens channel choices, we first need insights in the service
channel strategies of governmental agencies. Many developments explain why certain
channels are offered to citizens and therefore these developments, albeit indirect,
influence citizens channel choices. Further, an analysis of historical developments can help
us in our predictions for the future and the prospective applicability of the empirical part of
this thesis. Therefore, this contextual chapter provides an analysis of governmental service
provisioning.
Two important developments have altered the service channel landscape fundamentally in
the past decades. The first development is the change in governmental agencies
themselves: the shift from bureaucracy to customer centeredness. Nowadays,
governmental agencies pay loads of attention to public services and the improvement of
the services (Bekkers et al., 2005). However, this is no common situation. Before thinking
about services became popular, governmental agencies were merely occupied with the
implementation of policies and maintenance of the law (Bekkers et al., 2005). Where
governmental agencies until the 1970s could be characterized as Weberian bureaucracies,
influences such as Managerialism and New Public Management caused governmental
agencies to start thinking about services and paying attention to the demand of citizens.
For a long time, governmental agencies thought in terms of supply, rather than demand
(van Dijk & van Deursen, 2006). Change in management approach caused organizations to
think more in terms of the needs of their citizens, rather than merely the supply of
services. This development caused governmental agencies to develop specific
(multi)channel strategies and determine largely how services and channels are perceivedby the public sector.
A second development is the impact of ICT in governmental agencies. ICT did not only
impact organizational aspects of the public sector, such as new ways of information
handling and new work tools that affected how service provision is organized, but, more
important, ICT has given us new service channels, such as the World Wide Web, e-mail
2 Parts of this chapter have been previously published in: Pieterson & Van Dijk (2006), Ebbers, Pieterson &Noordman (2008) and Pieterson et al. (2007b)
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and more recently chat and sms. The arrival of these new channels has led to more
thought about the different characteristics of service channels and the ways in which
channels are positioned in an ideal service channel mix.
2.1.1 Overview of this chapterMain purpose of this chapter is to give an overview of the developments of public service
delivery, these developments largely explain the current status quo in public service
delivery and therefore this chapter serves as a background for the actual study. This
chapter starts with an analysis of the changes in the public sector that led to more service
orientation (2.2). Second, the rise of ICT and its impact on the service channel landscape
are examined (2.3). Next, the impacts of these developments on the service channel
strategies will be elaborated upon (2.4). The chapter ends with a number of concluding
remarks (2.5).
2.2 Publ ic Serv ices; hist or ical overv iew
Usually, governmental organizations are seen as bureaucratic organizations. This
Weberian type of organization focuses on such aspects as departmentalization,
specialization, standardization and routinization of the production process (Simon, 1976).
Consequence of this focus is that cost-efficiency is a central goal of bureaucratic
governmental organizations (Tat-Kei Ho, 2002). Further, this bureaucratic orientation
allows for a reduction in the changes for error, fraud, negligence, opportunistic behaviors
by citizens and most importantly; it guarantees the equal treatment of citizens (Tat-Kei Ho,
2002; Williamson, 1975). Furthermore, governments believed that society would functionbest through decision made by qualified politicians and civil servants (Bekkers et al.,
2005). The primary focus on internal processes and procedures leads to a low service
orientation in the public sector until the 1970s. As a consequence, within the public sector,
there was little attention for the relationship with its environment; why ask citizens about
their needs if you are able to assess those needs yourself?
This perception changed slightly in the 1970s, when the traditional Weberian bureaucracy
became increasingly criticized. Main points of critique on the Weberian bureaucracy are
that it is a rigid organization type characterized by proceduralism and the incapability totreat customers as humans who have preferences and feelings (Bozeman, 2000). Further,
during the 1970s the realization emerged that the quality of the policymaking process
influences the final policy effects (Bekkers et al., 2005) and citizens input in this process
may very well help in improving this process and the final effects after implementation. At
the same time, external influences also put pressures on governmental agencies, there
were economic and fiscal pressures, due to budget deficits and citizens and businesses
increasingly demanded good services, resulting from service delivery developments in the
private sector. Albeda and Van Bijlert (2001) argue that in total three external reasons for
the increasing attention for the customer orientation in the public sector exist:
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- Changed expectations; citizens expect results. Citizens increasingly compare
governments with businesses and demand the same treatment in public sector service
interactions than in business interactions.
- Changed environments that demands new forms of steering. Trends of
individualization of citizens, privatization of governmental functions anddeterritorialization (see for an explanation of these trends Albeda & van Bijlert, 2001)
have caused governments to be just a partner in a network of players. This has
increased the needs for governments to streamline their organizations and to find new
ways to steer and orient them externally.
- Changed offerings through information and communication technology. In back-
offices, ICT has helped the process of rationalization (or bureaucratization) of
governmental agencies and in the front-office, new channels have emerged (such as
the WWW and e-mail) that offered new choice options for citizens.
Since the 1970s various, more or less original, public management doctrines have
emerged that challenged the traditional Weberian perspective on public administration.
Managerialism, for example, emerged during the Reagan administration in the United
States. A key trademark of Managerialism is a dominant emphasis on financial and
managerial performance ahead of any other indicator of public sector performance. It
further stresses the belief in generic private sector solutions to public sector problems
(Feldheim, 2001). Another doctrine that argued against private sector principles is known
as the paradigm of progressive public administration. This paradigm argued to keep the
public sector sharply distinct from the private sector in terms of continuity, ethos, methods
of doing business, organizational design, people, rewards and career structure (Hood,1995, pp. 93-94). Nevertheless, the most influential of the developments was the New
Public Management (NPM) that builds upon the ideas of Managerialism. It has impacted
the functioning of the public sector in general in most Western countries and most notably
the service orientation in the public sector. Even today, many policy programs are rooted
in the NPM principles. The influence of NPM on governments channel perceptions and
channel strategies are therefore noteworthy.
2.2.1 New Public Management
In the 1980s, the term New Public Management was introduced (Osborne & Gaebler,1992). The focus of this public sector management approach was the relationship between
governments and their citizens. Citizens were no longer seen as subjects of the state, but
had to be treated as clients (Hood & Peters, 2004). In new Public Management, the
emphasis of the way governments influence their citizens shifted from reinforcement of the
law towards service provision. A more service oriented approach would not only improve
the relationship between citizens and governments, but should also lead to higher levels of
compliance to the law. The impact of New Public Management was great and the concept
spread around the Western world during the course of the 1980s and 1990s. In the
second half of the 1990s, most Western countries followed a strategy to improve their
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public services based on the ideas of New Public Management (Duivenboden & Lips,
2001).
New Public Management primarily aims at reducing the size of government, to reduce its
costs, and improve its performance (Kettl, 2000). Concerning general performance andpublic service delivery, Osborne and Geabler (1992) formulated a single most important
principle, which is to incorporate the vision of the citizen as a customer. This is the vision
of Customer-Driven Government. This vision postulates that citizens should be seen as
customers and should be treated likewise. Governments should reach the goal ofMeeting
the Needs of the Customer, Not the Bureaucracy (Osborne & Gaebler, 1992, 166-167).
Basically, this means that the government should better serve its citizens (Hood & Peters,
2004). Keywords are transparency and customer friendliness. But, governmental agencies
should also work more (cost) efficient, earning more and spending less, as Osborne and
Geabler (1992, 203-206) call it. These are not the only principles NPM, to run governments
as businesses; governmental agencies should comply with ten principles, according to
Osborne and Gaebler:
1. Catalytic Government. This means that the government should steer in stead of
row.
2. Community-owned Government. Governments should empower citizens rather than
serve them.
3. Competitive Government. The government should create competition within service
delivery.
4. Mission-driven Government. Governments should work according to a mission instead of (bureaucratic) rules.
5. Results-oriented Government. Funding of governmental agencies should be based
on outcomes, not inputs.
6. Customer-driven Government. Basically, governments should work according to the
needs of the customer, in stead of the bureaucracy.
7. Enterprising Government. Governmental agencies should be encouraged to earn
money, rather than just spending it.
8. Anticipatory Government. The government should prevent problems in stead of just
repairing problems.9. Decentralized Government. Governmental organizations should be flattened and be
made less hierarchical. Employees should get more responsibilities.
10. Market-oriented Government. Changes in service provision should be leveraged via
the market rather than via bureaucratic mechanisms.
The United States government was among the first to adopt the ideas of the NPM (in the
US, often labeled as Reinventing Government). Under the slogan Creating a
Government That Works Better and Costs Less (National Performance Review, 1993), vice
president Gore from the Clinton administration formed the National Performance Review
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(NPR) that copied NPM principles such as customer service, empowerment of employees,
reinvention labs, downsizing and cutting red tape (Ingraham & Moynihan, 2001). The first
point customer service was perhaps the most important external ambition of the NPR,
although internal considerations also played a role:
Our goal is to make the entire federal government both less expensive and more efficient,
and to change the culture of our national bureaucracy away from compliancy and
entitlement toward initiative and empowerment. We intend to redesign, to reinvent, to
reinvigorate the entire national government (National Performance Review, 1993, p. 1).
Other countries were swift to follow the adoption of the NPM ideas; in the second half of
the 1990s, most western countries followed a national strategy to improve governmental
performance, based upon New Public Management, often involving ICT (see also 2.3.3)
(van Duivenboden & Lips, 2002). Although NPM can be seen as just another new
management philosophy, such as Managerialism, the main difference is that the New
Public Management has become a normative model, one signaling a profound shift in how
we think about public administrators (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2000, p. 550).
One of the consequences of the New Public Management is that it strongly emphasizes the
needs of the citizen. But to be able to satisfy the need of the citizen, one has to know
what the citizen wants. Fountain (2001) argues that governmental agencies too often
assume what the needs of the citizen are, she points out that assumptions regarding
citizens preferences in the National Performance Review, like those of the New Public
Management, tend to be those of rational choice theory. They assume that preferences areclear, stable and exogenous to the behavior of political institutions (p. 66). In reality, it is
rather difficult to assess the preferences of citizens. Intrapersonal tradeoffs among
preferences make it difficult to understand what citizens want, because there are so many
ways in which people make those tradeoffs (Sen, 1982). This might explain way the level
of knowledge within governmental agencies about the behavior of citizens is rather low
(Pieterson, 2008).
Nevertheless, the focus on the citizen as customer has enhanced the attention for service
delivery and hence the attention for service channels and the behavior of citizen.Governmental programs aimed at improving public service delivery, such as the Dutch
Overheidsloket 2000 (OL2000) are strongly based upon the ideas of NPM. In this project,
the national government worked for several years on a project to provide all citizen
services using a one stop (physical) counter (Programmabureau Overheidsloket 2000,
2000). The projects foundation was formed by four pillars:
- A demand orientation
- Collaboration in public services
- Integrated services
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Deployment of ICT
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In this and similar programs in other countries explicit statements were made about
service channels and the behavior of citizens. Further, although it started as a project to
improve services through the creation of a physical one-stop shop, it gradually shifted to a
more ICT oriented project ending in a transition to a one-stop shop on the Internet. It
nevertheless makes clear how the NPM has impacted the thought about services andservices channels and the needs of the citizen as a customer of public organizations.
There is, however, an important drawback in the view of the citizen as a customer. A
citizen is more than just a customer of (public) services. Citizens have different roles in
their contacts with governmental agencies and therefore administrators should primarily
see citizens as citizens (King & Stivers, 1998). In the next section, we will examine the
roles of citizens a